Project Infant
by Super-sonic Iblish
Summary: Tails invented a new ray gun, that'll add more years to one's life, and now he just wants someone to test it on. But what happens when the ray backfires? A small Knuckles-Tails frienshipper! Probably won't get finished!
1. Chapter 1

Here's a sidenote before we begin: I seriously have a hard time remembering to update stories, because I tend to think of ideas, then write some of it, then get a new idea and forget entirely about the old one, so please don't be mad if some of my stories are never updated for awhile, or not at all.

Ok, sorry to have wasted your time! Now, time for the story! :)

Project Infant

By Super-Sonic Iblish

(Copyright: I do not own Sonic, Tails, or Knuckles. They belong to Sega.)

"Ok, now just one more twist and you'll be ready for testing!" Tails murmured to the machine, as he tightened a screw on it with a screwdriver. He finished, and backed away to look at his handiwork. The machine he was working on was a large, chrome ray gun with beautiful blue designs on it. The gun sat on top of the pedestal he worked on it with, and Tails' eyes widened with excitement and amusement, as he thought of all the great things he could do with this.

He'd invented a ray gun that can lengthen a person's life by three years, and he couldn't wait to test it out. He picked up the phone and dialed Sonic's number first.

"Hello?" came Sonic's voice from the other line.

"Hi Sonic! Can I ask you a favor?"

"Tails, this isn't about testing about another one of your inventions, is it?" Sonic recognized the voice immediately, and his voice didn't sound amused.

"No! I mean, why would I- But I… yes," Tails admitted, putting his head down.

"That's what I thought!" Sonic replied. "I'm sorry Tails, but I still have sores from your last invention! Please, can you refrain from testing your inventions on your friends?"

"Yeah, I understand," Tails said. "I'm sorry Sonic. I don't have to test this invention today."

"Thanks for understanding," Sonic replied. "Tell you what buddy, I'll come on over later. But no more experiments, ok? That's a promise!"

"Ok!" Tails hung up, and looked at his cell phone for a moment. Then, disregarding what Sonic asked, he looked on his cell for another contact. He found another number and dialed it.

"Hello?" came Knuckles' voice from the other line.

"Hi Knuckles! It's Tails!"

"Oh, hey Tails. What's up; is something wrong?" Knuckles asked. Of course, something always had to be wrong for them to call with that echidna!

"No no, nothing's wro- wait! Actually, something is wrong! Sonic and I need your help right away!" Tails lied, beginning to get an idea and hoping that he'd buy it.

"What's wrong?" Knuckles asked.

"Uh… we're… we were on a walk, and a strange animal attacked Sonic. He needs help!" Tails said, thinking of a random excuse.

"Ok, I'll be over soon!" Knuckles said urgently into the phone, and he hung up. Tails hung up and grimaced slightly.

"He's gonna be really mad when he finds out I was lying," Tails murmured, "But I needed someone to test out my invention!"

A few minutes later, Knuckles barged in, panting from running.

"Tails, I'm here! Where's Sonic?" Knuckles asked. Tails came up to Knuckles and sighed.

"I'm sorry Knuckles. I lied; Sonic wasn't attacked. I just wanted you to test something for me," Tails said quietly.

"What! You made me leave the Master Emerald all alone, for nothing!" Knuckles said angrily, glaring at the young fox. Tails shrunk helplessly under Knuckles' glare, and pulled down his ears.

"I'm sorry, I just knew otherwise you wouldn't come!" Tails admitted.

"Well, I've got to get back to the Master Emerald, I don't have time for being your guinea pig!" Knuckles said, and he turned to leave.

"Knuckles, wait!" Tails called. Knuckles stopped at the door and turned to look at Tails. Tails had grabbed his ray gun and aimed it at Knuckles.

"What are you-!" Suddenly, Tails shot Knuckles, and he was surrounded in a blue-green light.

"There, that didn't take too long!" Tails called, as he shielded his eyes from the light_. "That's weird, it shouldn't have been such a big spectacle for such a little invention,"_ he thought, as the light began to dim.

Once the light had disappeared, he expected to find Knuckles angry, not thinking anything had even happened. However, Tails gasped at what he actually saw. Standing where Knuckles should be, was a child, no more than three. He looked just like Knuckles, which was what surprised Tails. Knuckles' gloves and shoes were lying near the toddler, who'd now grown too small for them. He stood before the two-tailed fox with nothing on his little bare feet, or tiny fingers. Tails took a step towards the toddler, who looked up at him with big, violet eyes, bringing his spiked knuckles up to his mouth. He tried to walk up to him, but lost his footing and fell face first in front of the child as he stepped forward. He raised his head from the floor when he heard giggling. He looked up at the little boy hovering over him; he was smiling shyly, and giggling at him, with a very childish giggle.

"You're funny!" he said with an innocent, surprisingly cute voice. Tails got up fast and crouched down by the boy. Up close, he really looked different at a child. He had a much happier glow in his eyes, and he had a big, innocent smile on his face; the last time Tails had seen full-grown Knuckles happily smile was... well, never.

"Knuckles… a-are you ok? Can you understand me?" Tails asked him. Knuckles nodded innocently, and stuck his fingers back into his mouth. "Do you know what happened?" Tails continued. Knuckles shook his head no, his short dreadlocks whipping at the sides of his face.

Tails stood back up straight, turning his back on Knuckles and sighing deeply, running his hands through his hair nervously.

"Oh man, what am I going to do now!" he murmured. "I have a toddler running around in my house, and I'm only 12! I have no clue how to take care of babies!" he cried. Then, he thought back to possible reasons why the ray gun backfired. "It was supposed to add three years, not turn you into a three-year-old!"

Tails heard a loud clatter sound, bringing his attention back to the child. He turned back towards Knuckles, to find that Knuckles wasn't there anymore. "Oh no!" Tails murmured. "Why on earth did I turn my back on him; I'm so stupid!" he cried. Tails heard another sound, wood scraping against his floor, in the kitchen. He ran into the room, and found Knuckles, standing on a stool, trying to reach for a pot on the end of the counter. He grabbed at the handle, and the pot fell with a crash to the floor next to him. Knuckles flinched slightly at the loud sound, and looked down at the spilled contents of the pot; a bit of liquid residue from yesterday's meal, mixed with soapy water, now ran along the floor. A small "uh oh" escaped Knuckles' lips. But then, he heard someone clear their throat angrily, and his head whipped up to see Tails, tapping his foot angrily in front of him. However, Tails' entrance startled the boy, and he fell off the stool, to the ground. Knuckles let out a small yelp, as he fell to his bum on the floor. Knuckles was quite unhurt, however, and he looked up at Tails, smiling innocently. His little smile was actually kind of cute, and sweet; the problem was, Tails was not amused at the time. He breathed an exaggerative breath, and walked up to Knuckles, who shrunk further to the ground under Tails' height difference.

"No more grabbing things; that could've hit you!" Tails said sternly, shaking a finger at Knuckles. Knuckles nodded meekly, and looked up at him with apologetic puppy eyes.

"I sorry," he said quietly.

"Good," Tails said. "Now, are you ok?" he asked. Knuckles sat up and nodded again. Tails sighed, relieved to that aspect, then bent down and picked Knuckles up. Knuckles wrapped his small arms around Tails' neck, getting baby drool on his shoulders. Tails pried Knuckles off of him and looked him in the eyes.

"Now listen to me; I'm not going to tell anyone about this, and we're going to try and get you back to your rightful age, but it may take awhile," Tails told him slowly. "Until then, I want you to stay out of trouble," he continued. Knuckles just stared at him the entire time, not saying a word. "Did you understand?" Tails asked Knuckles. Knuckles just blinked at him, and a smile crept back onto his chubby cheeks. "I'm going to take that as a yes," Tails said, and he set Knuckles down on the floor. Knuckles walked back up to Tails' legs and clung onto one of his ankles tight, giggling.

"What're you doing?" Tails asked the child, who clung on, even after he raised his foot in the air. Knuckles giggled again, and climbed up higher onto his leg.

"I got your leg, I got your leg!" he chanted.

"Okay, you can let go now," Tails said awkwardly. He shook his leg, but Knuckles just laughed happily and enjoyed the ride, still not letting go. "Whee!" he cried, as Tails tried to shake him off, without success. Just then, Tails' doorbell rang.

"Oh great, now who is it?" Tails murmured. He ended up having to stumble to the door, with Knuckles still pinned to his leg. He opened the door, to find Sonic standing there; Tails had forgotten that Sonic was going to come by later.

"Sonic! Uh, what're you doing here?" Tails asked, moving the leg Knuckles clung to behind his other one, to hide the clinging infant.

"Don't you remember? I told you I'd stop by later, as long as you don't experiment on me," Sonic said. Tails blanked for a moment, before he spoke.

"Uh, can you excuse me for a moment?" Tails asked, and he closed the door on Sonic before he could say something. Tails quickly pulled Knuckles off of his leg and held him in front of him. He brought him into Tails' room, sat him on the bed, and spoke hurriedly.

"Now, I want you to stay in here, and _please_ keep quiet!" Tails said, and with that, he closed the door and left Knuckles alone. Knuckles looked around Tails' room in awe, at all the model airplanes and prototype robots he'd built sat, unguarded, and intriguing the child's interest.

Tails opened back up the door, and finally let Sonic inside.

"Sorry Sonic, I had to… uh… clean something up quick," Tails lied.

"S'ok Tails!" Sonic said, as he walked into the room. "You don't need to worry about cleaning your home for me; you're practically my brother! I don't care what your house looks like!" Tails laughed nervously, and nodded.

"Wow, what happened in here?" Sonic asked, as his stocking foot stepped in some of the soapy water Knuckles had spilled. Tails ran into the kitchen, to find Sonic taking off the soaked sock.

"Oh, sorry, I guess I missed that," Tails said, as he grabbed a towel and cleaned up the water on the floor. "You can borrow a pair of my socks upstairs," Tails said as he cleaned. Sonic nodded, and headed upstairs. However, Tails suddenly realized what he'd just done, and his eyes shrunk. How could he have forgotten that he dumped Knuckles in his room? And now he just sent Sonic into his room for socks! Tails dropped what he was doing, and rushed upstairs after Sonic. He came into the room, already trying to explain.

"Sonic, I'm so sorry, I don't know how this happened, but- huh?" Tails stopped in mid-sentence, to find that Sonic was rummaging through his sock drawer, and Knuckles was nowhere to be seen.

"Sorry about what? The water? That's not a problem at all!" Sonic said, still looking in the drawer. Tails' eyes scanned the room, trying to find out where Knuckles had gone. He looked under the bed covers, and even under his bed, but he wasn't there! Tails finally spotted Knuckles, buried in his closet, around a pile of clothes and old stuffed animals. Knuckles spotted him too, and smiled happily. Tails raised a finger to his lips, and silently shushed the echidna. Knuckles copied Tails, shushing him, then giggling slightly. Sonic looked up at the sound, and searched around the room.

"Did you hear that?" he asked Tails.

"Hear what!" Tails asked nervously. It was quiet for a moment, and then he spoke again. "Come on, let's go back downstairs!" he said, and he pushed Sonic out of his room. Before Tails left, he looked back at Knuckles. He mouthed out the words "stay there," and started for the door. Knuckles fell onto his hands and knees, peeking out of the closet, as Tails left. Knuckles felt a pressure in his chest, and an itch in his nose, and he quietly sneezed.

"Gesundheit Tails!" Sonic called from halfway down the stairs.

"Heh heh… yeah, that was me, sorry! I must be getting a cold!" Tails said nervously, and he left, closing the door behind him. Tails stood on the other side, and wiped at his forehead, sighing with relief.

Well, that's it for now! Tell me if you think I should continue this one, and give me ideas, cuz I love hearing from you! Chaio!


	2. Chapter 2

Later on, after Sonic left, Tails ran back upstairs to see how baby Knuckles was doing. He burst into his bedroom, to find Knuckles asleep on his bed, perched in a little ball on top of his pillow. Tails sighed a breath of relief, glad that Knuckles hadn't gotten into any mischief, and walked up to the boy. He stroked the sleeping boy's short dreadlocks, which aroused him from his sleep. Knuckles yawned and looked up at Tails.

"C'mon, it's time to start testing; I want to have you back to normal as soon as possible," Tails said. "But first, I think you might need a pull-up," Tails added. Knuckles sat up and pouted.

"No, I no want pull-ups!" he complained.

"I don't care what you want, you have to wear one," Tails said. He lifted Knuckles into his arms, but Knuckles began to swing his arms and screech. "Augh, quit fussing!" Tails said, as Knuckles hit him in the eye with one of his arms.

"No no no!" Knuckles kept crying. Tails brought the squirming child into the X-Tornado, and they flew off to a store, to get some pull-ups.

While in the store, Knuckles continued to whine and fuss, while Tails looked for a cheap pack of pull-ups, and checked out. After he bought them, he brought Knuckles into the boy's bathroom and put one on him. It took a bit of work, since Knuckles kept kicking and crying, but soon he had a pull-up on, in case if, at his age, he wasn't potty trained yet.

As Tails walked, holding Knuckles' hand, out of the store, Knuckles finally got used to the pull-ups, and stopped complaining.

"Ok, now let's head home. I want to begin working as soon as possible," Tails said to Knuckles.

"I don't wanna! I'm hungry," he whined, yanking his hand free of Tails'.

"I can make you something to eat while we're working," Tails said, grabbing the boy's wrist.

"No, I want to go out for lunch!" Knuckles cried, staying put in his spot. Tails stood over Knuckles and put on his best angry face.

"Knuckles, I'm going to count to three, and you're going to get up and come with me!" Tails commanded. "One…" Knuckles ignored him and looked up at Tails with pleading eyes. "…Two!" Tails didn't break his glare, while Knuckles gave him the guilty trick. "Don't make me say three!" Tails warned, although Knuckles' puppy eyes were beginning to get hard to bear. Knuckles made an even bigger "pouty-face," and his eyes grew even larger. "_Geez, how much bigger can this kid's eyes get!" _ Tails thought. He sighed, giving in. "Alright, alright! I'll take you out for lunch!" Tails said, admitting defeat over the cuteness. Knuckles' pout curled into a pleased smile.

"Yay!" he said happily, jumping up and down in the parking lot.

Tails had brought Knuckles out to a McDonalds, keeping his eyes peeled for any of his friends. He sat with Knuckles at one of the booths, watching him as he ate. Tails watched carefully, at both Knuckles, and his surroundings. "_It's hard to believe such a 'rough-and-tumble, don't show grace to anyone' type of guy, like Knuckles, was such a sweet and innocent little kid!"_ Tails thought, as he watched Knuckles play with his apple dippers©. "_Well, almost sweet and innocent,"_ he added, thinking back to how stubborn Knuckles still was.

Just then, he heard a familiar voice at the register. Tails looked over towards the register and saw Sonic ordering something to go. Tails bit his lip and whirled his head back around to face Knuckles, and tell him that they had to leave. But there was just one problem; Knuckles was gone, and he'd wandered away again! Tails looked under the booth, but he wasn't there.

"Knuckles! Knuckles, where are you!" Tails called, his eyes searching the restaurant. He heard a familiar giggle, and looked back towards the register. Knuckles was wandering up towards the register area with the car that he'd gotten in his kid's meal. He was headed right up to where Sonic was ordering.

"Knuckles, no!" Tails whispered harshly, but Knuckles either couldn't hear or just didn't listen, and he continued to play with the toy car, wandering right up to Sonic. He wasn't looking where he was going, and crashed into Sonic's leg. Sonic looked around, and was about to look down at what'd hit him.

"No!" Tails cried, and he ran up to divert Sonic's attention. "Hi Sonic! H-How're you?" Tails said, as he stepped in front of Knuckles. He shoved Knuckles, who sat on his bum, behind him and out of Sonic's viewpoint with his foot. Knuckles made a frown, and hit Tails' leg irritably with his knuckle claws. Tails flinched, and made a slight grimace, but then smiled at Sonic nervously before he noticed.

"Oh, hey Tails! Fancy meeting you here, for the second time today!" Sonic said, smiling at the kistune.

"Heh heh, yeah, it's odd! What're you doing?" Tails asked.

"Just getting a bite, how 'bout you?" Sonic replied.

"Same," Tails replied, secretly peeking behind him to see if Knuckles was still there. As he feared, he wasn't. Tails scanned the restaurant, trying to find out where he'd gone. He caught a glimpse of something small and red leaving through the open door, and he began to panic. Knuckles was going towards the road!

"Uh, Sonic, can you excuse me?" Tails said, rushing towards the door. "I'll see you later, 'kay?" he told Sonic, before he left. _"Ugh, this kid is going to be the death of me!" _Tails thought, as he ran outside.

Sonic rolled his eyes and chuckled slightly in his throat.

"That boy, always has to be doing something... wait, I'm like that too," he murmured. "Well, he must get that from me then," he said.

"Here you are sir," the man at the register said, handing him his bag of food.

"Thank you," Sonic said. He grabbed the paper bag, but then felt something tugging at his leg, and he looked down. Sonic seemed slightly surprised at what he saw; a small, red-furred echidna boy, who looked oddly like Knuckles, was standing next to him. Knuckles made a sweet little smile at him, and put his other hand to his mouth, still holding onto Sonic's leg fur. Sonic raised his brow and knelt down by the child.

"Hey little guy, what's your name, and where's your family?" he asked with a higher voice, that adults always used on little kids.

"Sonic!" Knuckles said happily, his smile growing bigger.

"Your name is Sonic?" Sonic asked the boy. He figured it probably wasn't correct, but there were always the small group of women who'd name their kids after celebrities.

Knuckles shook his head no. Sonic thought so, and he continued.

"Then who are you?" he asked. Knuckles motioned for Sonic to come closer. Sonic came up so his face was right up next to his. Knuckles pulled at Sonic's ear, and began to whisper into his ear.


	3. Chapter 3

Haven't posted anything new on this story for awhile. Sorry its so short, I'm kind of stumped for ideas right now.

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><p>Sonic was headed back to Tails house, slowly, with Knuckles' little hand gripped tightly in his. He had to admit, he found it hard to believe that the boy next to him was really Knuckles, but he didn't expect a random kid to make up something like this. It was actually kind of funny, him letting Tails turn him into a baby. But yet, at the same time he was mad with Tails; he'd promised that he wouldn't experiment on his friends, and he broke his promise. Then to make it worse, he tried to cover it up and keep it from him!<p>

Knuckles stopped walking and tugged on Sonic's hand.

"I'm tired," he complained.

"We're almost there, you can rest when you're at Tails' house," Sonic replied. He tried to keep walking, but Knuckles stayed put and pouted at Sonic. Sonic covered his mouth and snorted, in his attempt to hold back his laugher. Seeing his "big, strong sidekick" pouting at him like… well, like a baby, it was hilarious! However, Knuckles didn't think so, and when Sonic started laughing, Knuckles whimpered like he was going to cry and he stared up at him, his lip quivering and his pupils growing. Sonic's laughing began to slow to an awkward chuckle as he saw Knuckles' puppy dog face. When Sonic's laughing stopped completely, Knuckles still stared up at him and plopped onto his bum in front of him.

"How're you doing that?" Sonic asked the boy, referring to how big his pupils were getting. Sonic couldn't help but find it cute… he couldn't fight it. "Stop that, you're too cute!" Sonic exclaimed. Knuckles continued to stare, and slowly blinked at him. "FINE! I'll carry you the rest of the way, just stop making that face!" Sonic gave in. Knuckles smiled happily and his pupils shrunk back to normal. He raised his arms up in the air, wiggling his fingers, and cried, "Up!" Sonic raised a brow at the child, then bent down and picked him up. Knuckles cuddled into his arms, and Sonic lowered his eyes.

"This is so awkward…" he mumbled, and he took off towards Tails' house.

Sonic skidded to a stop in front of Tails' house. He looked back down at Knuckles, to find his fast asleep, his face nuzzled into Sonic's chest. Sonic readjusted the boy's face so it was facing the other direction, then turned back to the door and knocked, hoping Tails was home. But after several moments of waiting, Tails never answered. Sonic moaned.

"Of course he isn't home!" he said. "He's probably still out looking for you," he continued, looking down at Knuckles. Knuckles moaned slightly and brought a hand up to his mouth.

"Well, he's going to have to come home sooner or later," Sonic mumbled, "No use going out to try and find him and losing him even more." Sonic leaned up against the side of Tails' house, right next to the door, and slid down to the floor and sat down in the driveway, leaning up against the wall.

A little while later, Knuckles woke up and wanted to explore. Not knowing that he should keep an eye on him, Sonic let him go wander by himself, while he closed his eyes to rest.

"Sonic!"

The voice aroused him from his small catnap. Sonic looked up to see Tails standing over him.

"What're you doing here?" Tails asked. His voice sounded urgent.

"Tails," Sonic started, quickly standing up, "I thought we agreed no more experimenting on friends?" Tails gave Sonic a worried look.

"What do you mean?" he asked, folding his arms behind his back.

"I mean turning Knuckles into a baby, Tails, that's what I mean," Sonic said, slightly angry.

"Y-You've seen him?" Tails exclaimed.

"Yeah, I found him at the restaurant," Sonic replied, "…Brought him home with me."

"W-well, where is he?" Tails asked, looking around the area.

"He was just here… I let him go wander and explore," Sonic replied. Tails' mouth dropped and he stared at Sonic.

"Y-You let him… WHAT! Sonic, how stupid are you! He's probably halfway to China by now!" Tails cried. "You never leave young children unattended!"

"I'm sorry, I didn't know!" Sonic exclaimed.

"We've got to go find him before he gets in hurt!" Tails said, and he took off, Sonic right behind him.

Knuckles wandered around Tails' backyard aimlessly, looking at anything and everything he could reach. He'd already seen two bunny rabbits, a pretty crocus, and a couple of beehives in a tree. Tails' backyard was like a huge jungle to him. He heard a slight rustling sound that intrigued him, and he wandered over near the bush to have a look. He gasped at what he saw; lying in the open just past the bush was a pretty, yellow rock, about the size of a golf ball, shining like the sun.

"Oooh, pretty!" he cried, and he picked it up. But then, he heard a snapping sound, and suddenly, something fell on top of him, and he screamed.


	4. Chapter 4

_Sorry about not updating for so long. I've been busy. This story has kind of changed from a friendship-type fanfic to that of a comedy fanfic in this chapter. Hope you get a few laughs out of it! And PS, there is a bit of Eggman bashing on this chapter... but it's not like you care anyways._

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><p>Sonic and Tails met up about 5 minutes later in a panic.<p>

"Did you find him anywhere?" Tails asked.

"No, did you?" Sonic asked. Tails' eyes lowered irritably.

"Yeah Sonic, I found him; I'm only asking you if you found him to see if you happened to found him too! OF COURSE I HAVEN'T!" he shouted. Tails placed a hand on his forehead and let out a long sigh. "I guess that's what I get for experimenting when I shouldn't," he muttered.

"Yeah… I guess!" Sonic snappily replied. They were about to split up, to look again, when they heard a high-pitched, metallic laughter that Sonic recognized.

"Oh no, not him!" Sonic exclaimed, as he looked up and saw the little black robot flying down from the sky and landing in front of them.

"Bokkun? What do you want?" Tails asked. Bokkun dug in his backpack and pulled out a small television, which happened to be way too big to have fit in his backpack, and set it in front of them.

"I've got a message for you from Doctor Eggman!" Bokkun replied, and he pressed the power button on the television. Eggman's face appeared on the screen, and he laughed psychotically.

"Hello Sonic! I, the almighty Doctor Eggman, am here to accept your unconditional surrender, and announce my victory!" his pre-recorded voice said, and Sonic's and Tails' eyes widened nervously. "Wait… if I'm sending you this message, I haven't won yet…" Eggman muttered under his breath, his pre-recording continuing on. Realizing his mistake, he groaned and reached up, pressing the stop button on the camera, and the screen fizzled out. Then it came back on again, and Eggman spoke again. "I'm sure you're wondering how I'm going to take over the world! Well, a certain friend of yours was nice enough to leave his very powerful possession unguarded, so I took it! Now I've invented a machine used to harness its power and use it to destroy the world!" he proclaimed. The screen fizzled out again, and re-appeared in a new room, with Eggman standing in front of a small, metal ray gun that was attached to the Master Emerald.

"Hey! That kinda looks like my ray gun that I used on Knuckles!" Tails exclaimed.

"Behold! The 'Master Emerald Controller-inator!'" Eggman announced. (**lol, Phineas and Ferb reference!) **Sonic growled in his throat, knowing Eggman can't hear him. The camera fizzled out again, and Eggman was in the same room as he was before and continued.

"Now Sonic, if you want to save your home, you could just turn yourself in now, and I will spare this world!" he bargained.

"Heh… Sounds more like an invitation to crash his plans!" Sonic said cockily.

"…And I know you're going to try and stop me, but I wouldn't if I were you," Eggman continued, answering Sonic's question. "…I wouldn't… if you ever want to see your little friend again," he said, and he went behind the camera and aimed it up higher, to reveal Knuckles hanging from the ceiling by his middle, and he was grunting and struggling to free himself. They heard Eggman laugh evilly from behind camera, and then he came into the camera view again.

"So Sonic, if you know what's good for baby Knuckles here, you'd come quietly!" Eggman said, gesturing to the little echidna. Knuckles looked up at Eggman and growled at him.

"Let me go, meanie!" he exclaimed, and he flailed his hanging limbs angrily, and ended up kicking Eggman in the face. Eggman grunted and his hands flew to his face.

"Oh you little brat!" Eggman exclaimed, rubbing his face, while Knuckles let out little, angry cries, trying to free himself. Eggman looked back at the camera nervously, then off camera to something offset. "Decoe, Bocoe, you'd better edit this part out before it gets sent off!" he shouted off screen.

"Yes sir," a robotic voice replied from off screen. He reached up and turned off the camera, and Sonic and Tails looked up at Bokkun.

"Oops… guess we forgot to edit it out," Bokkun replied, giggling slightly. "Well, bye! I hope you two have a real blast!" he exclaimed and he flew away. Sonic and Tails raised their brows confusedly, until they heard a beeping sound coming from the TV, and it exploded.

Sonic and Tails brushed themselves off, coughing smoke from their mouths, and came away with charred faces.

"We've gotta' go stop Eggman and rescue Knuckles!" Sonic said, shaking the black soot from his face. He was going to take off running, but then Tails spoke.

"Wait Sonic! If we go over there, Eggman is sure to either destroy us or Knuckles, whichever he decides first!" Tails cried, stopping Sonic.

"Ok… We're going to have to come up with a plan to get Knuckles out of his trap first then!" Sonic replied.

"That's so weird… his ray looks almost like mine… except for the blue designing on the sides," Tails muttered to himself, brushing the soot from his ears. Sonic overheard him, and then he got an idea.

"Light bulb alert!" Sonic announced, a smile coming on his face. "Tails, go get your ray, I've got an idea!" he said to the fox. Confused of what Sonic was planning, he nodded and went to get his ray.

When Tails came back, Sonic took it from him and began to scrape at the side of his with his fingernails.

"What're you doing Sonic?" Tails asked.

"Just hold on. I've got to get this blue off," Sonic said, chipping the paint off the side of the metal gun.

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><p>Eggman sat at his computer control center, watching the Justin Bieber movie on YouTube with a 10-pound bag of microwave popcorn.<p>

"Wow! How does he play so many instruments?" he commented, as he shoveled a big handful of popcorn into his mouth. Knuckles was still hanging from the ceiling behind him, but he hung with his back to the fat man.

"You're dumb!" Knuckles commented, folding his arms at his chest. Eggman looked over at Knuckles and got up.

"I'm dumb? Says the kid who fell for a simple net-rope trap!" Eggman said, approaching the hanging boy.

"You're a dummy!" Knuckles said, sticking out his tongue at him.

"I'm not a dummy!" Eggman shouted in his face. Knuckles pinched his nose with his hand and made a face in disgust.

"Your breath is stinky!" he commented. Eggman gave Knuckles an un-amused look. "I wanna get down!" Knuckles cried.

"No! You'll just run away! You're never coming down from there!" Eggman replied.

"What if there's a fire?" Knuckles asked.

"I don't care. I'm just going to kill you anyways," Eggman replied.

"What if aliens take over?"

"I seriously doubt that. Now quit bothering me!" Eggman snapped, turning away to walk off.

"What if I gotta go to the bathroom?" Eggman clenched his fists and turned back around to face the boy.

"You know… you're even more annoying as a kid. I think I prefer you trying to rip my guts out!" Eggman said, shoving Knuckles aside, causing him to swing back and forth. Startled, Knuckles cried out and flailed his arms. Eggman smiled evilly and pushed him higher and harder.

"Stop! STOP!" Knuckles cried fearfully. At last attempt, he grabbed onto Eggman's moustache as he flew past, and that stopped him. Eggman cried out in pain and pulled himself away.

"It's ok my precious, you're ok," he cooed to his moustache.

"You're dumb! You talk to moustaches!" Knuckles repeated, now only swaying a little.

"You… you asshole!" Eggman exclaimed, still stroking his moustache, but looking up at Knuckles.

"Ouch! Better watch your language around the kid's little, virgin ears, Eggy!" a voice said from behind them, and the two of them looked towards the voice. Eggman gasped and Knuckles smiled.

"Sonic!"Knuckles exclaimed happily. Sonic and Tails were standing side-by-side, Sonic holding the Master Emerald and Tails holding Eggman's Master Emerald Controller-inator… or so he thought it was. Tails groaned and brought the gun to his side and gave Sonic a look.

"Why is it he calls your name, but never mine?" he demanded. Sonic shrugged and gave Tails a nod, and he rolled his eyes and brought his gun back up and pointed it at Eggman.

"But that's impossible! How did you steal the gun from the containment area without setting off the alarm?" Eggman stammered. Tails brought the gun closer to Eggman's head and smiled at him, and Eggman grew silent and gulped.

"Alright Eggman, Back down now or we'll be forced to use this gun on you!" Sonic threatened, a sinister grin appearing on his face. Eggman backed away from Knuckles and brought his hands into the air.

"N-Now Sonic… Tails… you don't know what chaos that gun holds! Please, if you want to spare all of us from destruction, drop the gun!" he said worriedly. Tails handed the gun to Sonic, while he came up to Knuckles and untied him and let him down. Knuckles immediately scrambled up to Tails and clung to his leg.

"Shoot the dummy!" he cried, pointing at Eggman. Tails looked at Sonic, who flashed an even bigger smile at the two of them, then he turned to Eggman.

"My pleasure!" Sonic sneered, and he loaded the gun. It whirred to life, and shot a bright beam right at Eggman. Eggman screamed "Noooo!" before his voice faded into a childish cry. When the light dimmed away, the three of them found a little, chubby baby who still had a small moustache was sitting in his spot. Eggman was a child too now; the gun that he'd thought was his Master Emerald Controller-inator was actually Tails' baby ray. Eggman looked down at himself and gasped.

"What did you do to me?" he cried, with an annoyingly squeaky voice. Sonic smiled slightly at him.

"Ugh… he's even ugly as a baby!" Sonic commented. He looked back at Tails and Knuckles. "C'mon guys, let's go!" he said to them. Tails nodded and tried to walk, but Knuckles still clung to his leg. Realizing he probably won't let go, Tails rolled his eyes and flew instead.

"Hey! Come back meanies!" Eggman shouted after them. "Decoe! Bocoe!" he cried, but nobody came. He started to cry when he noticed he was alone, while Decoe and Bocoe looked around the corner at their creator.

"I call you do diaper duty!" Decoe said, poking Bocoe's metal chest plate.

* * *

><p>Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles made it back to Tails' place and went inside. Sonic set the Master Emerald down next to the couch and sat down immediately. Tails landed inside and shook his leg, trying to shake the boy off, with no luck.<p>

"Can you help me?" Tails asked Sonic. Sonic laughed slightly, but then bent down and pulled at Knuckles, trying to get him off. Knuckles just laughed and clung tighter.

"Uh… S-Sonic… I'm starting to lose feeling in my toes," Tails said to him.

"I've got an idea," Sonic said. He poked a finger under Knuckles armpit and tickled him. Knuckles cried out "No!" happily and he giggled, and he let go of Tails' leg. Tails sighed and kicked his foot around.

"Thanks Sonic," he said, as Sonic lifted Knuckles up and set him on his back in his arms. "You don't have to hold him like that; he's three years old," Tails said to Sonic.

"I know, but I love kids! I can't help it!" Sonic said, poking Knuckles' tummy.

"I'm hungry!" Knuckles said. Tails shook his head.

"Why is it little kids are always so much more hungry than we are?" he asked rhetorically.

"I don't think it's that so much, I think kids just have a harder time holding it until their meals," Sonic replied. "Don't worry about it Tails, I'll make something for him to eat, you just get started on that ray to turn him back to normal. I don't think Knuckles wants to have to go through puberty again!" Sonic said. Tails nodded and walked off towards his workshop. Sonic set Knuckles down on the floor and knelt down by him.

"What do you want to eat?" he asked him.

"Ice cream!" Knuckles exclaimed happily. Sonic huffed in amusement and ruffled the boy's fur.

"You silly, I meant something a little more lunch-y!" he said.

"Please?" Knuckles begged, giving him his infamous puppy dog eyes. Sonic gave Knuckles a dirty look.

"Sorry pal, not going to work on me this time," he said to the little echidna, and he stood up before he had a chance to change his mind. "C'mon, let's see if Tails has any chili," he said, and he walked into the kitchen. Knuckles pouted and followed.

Sonic dug in the fridge and pulled out a can of chili. "Mmm mmm, yum!" he said, licking his chops. He brought out the hot dogs as well, and pulled out some hot dog buns from his cupboard.

"You'll like this! I'm the master at making chilidogs!" Sonic said down to Knuckles, and he lifted him up and sat him on the edge of the countertop. Knuckles cocked his head and watched as Sonic popped open the can and heated the chili in a pot on the stove. Then he cooked the hot dogs, and placed one on a bun. He cut a second one in half, and placed it on half a bun, for Knuckles. Then he put on the chili and gave it to Knuckles.

"Here, try it, you'll like it!" Sonic said to him. Knuckles took it in his hands and looked at it confusedly. He looked back at Sonic and saw him piling the chili on his. Sonic noticed him looking at him with a confused look.

"I like mine extra spicy," Sonic said, as he also put on some onions, horseradish, and relish. "I figured, since you're little, you wouldn't like the extras, so I just gave you a little bit of chili." Sonic took a big bite of his chilidog and licked the mess from his lips. "Mmmm, delicious!" Sonic said, and he looked back at Knuckles, who still hadn't eaten any. "Go on, it won't bite!" Sonic said, and he ate some more of his. Knuckles looked at his half a chilidog and took a bite. He had chili on his mouth, but he smiled as he chewed.

"You like it?" Sonic asked him. Knuckles nodded and swallowed, then licked the chili from his lips and took another messy bite. Sonic smiled and made another one for himself. Knuckles finished the last bit of his and licked his mouth, then hopped off the counter.

"Are you done now?" Sonic asked him, looking down at him. Knuckles nodded.

"I wanna play outside!" Knuckles said. Sonic shoved the last bit of his chilidog into his mouth and walked up to him. When he finished chewing and swallowing, he lifted Knuckles up from under his arms and spoke, while Knuckles giggled and cried out happily, swinging in Sonic's grip.

"No no, I don't want you getting kidnapped again! You're staying in here!" Sonic said to him. Knuckles stopped laughing and swinging and went, "Aaaww," looking back at Sonic with a sad look.

"Aw c'mon, I'm sure there's plenty of fun things you can do inside!" Sonic said to Knuckles. Knuckles' mouth curled into a little smile as he looked at Sonic.

"I wanna play horse!" he said to Sonic. Sonic raised a brow and set Knuckles down in front of him.

"You want to pretend to be a horse?" he asked him. Knuckles shook his head.

"Nuh uh, you're the horse!" Knuckles replied, smiling.

Tails came into the living room, where he heard the ruckus and guessed they were, carrying his baby ray.

"Sonic, I figured out the problem, and I tweaked it so it should bring him back to his right age!" Tails called, and he looked around, but he didn't see them. "Sonic? Knuckles? Where are you?" Tails called.

"Down here Tails!" Sonic called, as he crawled out from behind the sofa, with Knuckles riding on his back. Tails couldn't hold back a chuckle, as he heard Knuckles exclaim, "Giddyap horsie!"

"What're you two doing?" he asked them. Sonic let out an exhausted sigh.

"He wanted to play horsie," Sonic said… need he say more? He sat up, letting Knuckles slide off his back and onto the floor, then he stood up. "So you can turn Knuckles back now?" he asked Tails, who nodded in reply. "Oh, good!" Sonic exclaimed. "I'm starting to miss the old Knux!" Tails loaded the gun and the familiar whirring sound started up, and it started to glow. Sonic stepped away, as Tails shot Knuckles with the ray.

* * *

><p>"And again, I'm really sorry about this. I just really wanted to test my invention. I didn't know it'd backfire; I was just trying to help," Tails apologized to Knuckles, who was now 16 again.<p>

"That's ok Tails, I understand," Knuckles replied. He picked up the Master Emerald in his arms and headed for the door. Tails followed him to it.

"Just do me a favor," Knuckles said, leaning down by Tails' ear. "Next time you want to test something, test it on Sonic," he whispered. Tails nodded guiltily, but smiled.

"Well… at least now we don't have to worry about Eggman for awhile," Tails added, cracking a slight smile as he remembered leaving him as a crying baby.

"Don't count on it lasting too long," Sonic butted in. "You and I both know that he'll be back to normal for the next episode." (**Super-Sonic Iblish: *gasp* it's a conspiracy, he knows!)**

* * *

><p><em>Well, that's the end! I hope you enjoyed it! :P<em>

_I sure enjoyed writing it!_


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